DaFonz

I got to about the 2nd course and just started ordering from the menu. I covered off most of it I think.

Anchor and Hope was one of my favourite restaurants when I visited. Lobster remoulade was to die for.

Thanks for recommendations egulleters. This was my dinner at Ame last night. I really enjoyed it especially with the wine pairing. The only two things I didn't finish was the cherry pie (only managed half) and the risotto with the pork chop because it blew. Trio of Sashimi. In focus is the red tuna with a zukke sauce. There's also a smoked trout and a kanpachi with uni sauce. Corn soup with lobster puppies. Broiled black cod with shrimp dumplings. Grilled quail with beans and chirizo sausage Foie Gras Tortellini with truffle shavings Tuna tartare with foie gras shavings Scallops, geoduck and prawns in a tomato sauce (almost a cerviche) Kurobuta pork chop with mushroom risotto Abalone in a spicy mushroom sauce Chocolate pudding with some sort of sorbet (which was good) Strawberry parfait Pistachio ice cream with pistachio cookies and matcha green tea Cherry pie with creme fraiche and a malt milkshake. At the end of it all, the kitchen gave me two shots (something rank and ginger beer) to help me digest it all.

Kobe Beef steak and eggs. Salad was a mango/citrus/spring mix with light vinegrette and the bread was fresh bought baguette from nearby Italian deli. I.. did not function for most of the day because i was so stuffed.

Played around some more and got a little more blistering, but I think the lack of a cast iron pan is hurting me here. Another thing I noticed was that the loaves .. kinda got flat after a while... does that mean I gimped up the dough with not enough flour..?

Ok, I made again using tips from this thread (thanks guys!). I added more water than last time, which I think might have been a little much. The dough was MUCH closer to what I wanted and much less dense than last time, but looking at these photos, it seems like I either.. a) added too much water or b) didn't cook them long enough? The crust this time was noticeably improved and much thinner than last time. It wasn't super crispy though this time I did notice some blistering on the crust (though not as much as I think it should have). For the rising, I just shaped the loaves and then let rise and then bake instead of letting rise, punch down, shape, rise agian. I also noticed that it rised.. then went down a little... should I have let it rise, let it fall and then let it rise again?

oh no! yet another thing to buy! The recipe called for a pizza stone preheated for 45 mintes and then the bread to be baked for 20 minutes. i did it without a pizza stone for 28 so perhaps longer? I'm not quite sure how long to bake things for (I was using a thermometer to check the internal temp).. and it read 208 i believe? Whatever my recipe called for. Thanks for hte tip on the water! I knew that a crisp crust had to do with water evaporating off the crust, but never knew you had to presteam it. Would I get the same effect if I waited say.. 10 minutes for the water to steam and then putting it in.. or do I HAVE to do it the way you described?

I was baking it at 500f.. yah I think that might have something to do with it.. I did have a tray with water in it.. but it was cold so it took a while to steam it. I think next time i'll boil some water and put hot water in. I also misted the bread loaves so I think that helps?

The crust wasn't the way I wanted and the bread was too dense for my tastes. I'm not sure what overproved means? 30 degrees eh? Hum, i think that might be a problem.. i was doing it at room tempurature... the recipe I was using called for a sponge to be made, then you mix in the other ingredients.. let it rise... deflate, let it rise again and then shape into loaves which you then put in fridge for 12 hrs. Time to experiment more. aieeeeeee

Ok.. try two. I think the dough I started off was better.. but still could use improvement. Perhaps more kneading? I've also realized that the recipe called for a pizza stone to help with heat distribution... hum... this is what I get for not following the recipe. Arggg...

Make coconut rice Make black rice (uh.. hak lo mai)... that's good with coconut milk

Ok.. try two. I played around with the water and flour towards the end to get the .. soft, moist and tacky doughball. It was far softer than what I had the first time around, but I still couldn't get the window pane? Perhaps it was my flour. I discovered that adding a little water to the recipe helped somewhat in helping to make the dough software. As a result, I only kneaded it for 20 minutes. I'm not sure how useful pictures are to helping determine the "rightness" of the dough, but here are some... Is this the level of smoothness Ishould be aiming for? Or more? If you look just under my finger, you can see the dough rising up a little.. when I pulled away... none really stuck to my finger.

I am working...always on and off the computer printing stuff off for students. I've made foccacia a few times, and I've only made a baguette once a few years ago. I remember the foccacia was really easy to do and turned out well. The baguette turned out well too, but I didn't have a good reference point a few years ago (having eaten very few "good" baguettes at that point in my life) so I'll have to try again. Thanks for posting this thread...I'm sure it'll help me a lot. ← Ok, we make baguettes together. I'm so determined now. 40 minutes until my second sponge is done. If it doesn't work I'm going to scream. My focaccia better turn out... the recipe calls for potatos! It's kinda strange...

The stellar bays are good eh? You just can't go wrong with oysters at joe fortes.. they are always so amazingly good

Shouldn't you .. like be at work now? My second batch better turn out or I'm gonna be mad.. then I'll give up and make the foccacia.